The World Economic Forum (WEF) showcased the facilities and tech employed by a cryptocurrency mining firm and implied its operations were the “biggest winner” for the environment — but it never actually said it was mining crypto.
Published on April 20, the WEF video promoted efforts towards reducing flaring — where large amounts of gas from oil production or from decomposition are wasted — by the Colorado-based Bitcoin (BTC) miner Crusoe Energy Systems.
Prominent imagery of what appear to be cryptocurrency mining facilities are presented throughout the video; however, the video never directly addresses what is actually happening.
Chase Lochmiller, CEO, and co-founder of Crusoe explained in the video that it builds and operates “modular data centers” which are co-located with waste energy sources to use wasted methane streams to generate power.
It was noted this enables the production of “ultra-low-cost computing infrastructure” by utilizing stranded energy sources that would otherwise go unused.
The video was noticed by several crypto industry figures.
Microstrategy co-founder Michael Saylor shared the video with his 3 million Twitter followers on April 23 stating that “even the WEF is recognizing the environmental benefits of Bitcoin Mining.”
Even the @WEF is recognizing the environmental benefits of Bitcoin Mining. pic.twitter.com/kPnMIfyJpU
— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) April 23, 2023
Meanwhile, Kristine Cranley, a director at the advocacy group the Texas Blockchain Council pointed out in an April 23 tweet that the video didn’t once mention “the b word”: Bitcoin.
@WEF promoting mining without using the b word! Source below. Contrast this with the tone of the @nytimes hit piece! Same topic … different emotional experience they are trying to deliver. @NYTimesUp pic.twitter.com/d4OEPkWYFc
— Kristine Cranley (@KristineCranley) April 23, 2023
One user suggested in a tweet that the WEF wasn’t allowed to mention BTC, because of their previous “standpoint” which has included advocacy for changing Bitcoin’s code to proof-of-stake citing the environmental impact of its current consensus mechanism.
The hidden cost of Bitcoin? Our #environment https://t.co/dF7b2HOkd4 pic.twitter.com/qY5mrmiSaR
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